Davis Cup final all square after a day of drama

The Belgians brought in their number one singles player David Goffin, who came back to beat Kyle Edmund on day one, to partner Steve Darcis for this crucial rubber, and while the world number 16 played an excellent match he was outshone by British number one Andy Murray.

Andy Murray has played down the importance of today’s doubles rubber in the Davis Cup final after pulling Great Britain level at 1-1 on the opening day in Ghent.

Tears welled up in Edmund’s eyes as the match ran away from him in the fifth set, and he said: ” I believed I could win.

The brothers fought off seven break points in the fourth game of the fourth set to stay one break up and rode that advantage to clinch the match as the Belgians’ spirit collapsed. “We had our chances to do more in the first three sets”. The battle between these two on Sunday will be fascinating, for they both seem to feel completely at home on this court and are landing the ball on a handkerchief with nearly every shot.

Should Murray complete his country’s finest hour since Fred Perry and Bunny Austin sealed victory over Australia at Wimbledon in the 1936 final, the words “Great Britain” will be inscribed on the historic trophy, but the engraver might be tempted instead to write simply “Scotland”, “Dunblane” or even “Murrays”. Thankfully, for the British supporters, the two holds were by Andy Murray.

“My job here is to obviously try to win the tie, give my best effort like I believe all of the team have in the last five years – hopefully we get the outcome that we want”, added Murray.

However, roared on by the majority of the 13,000 crowd packed into an arena built inside a charmless warehouse on the edge of medieval Ghent, the 24-year-old hit back from two sets down for the first time to win 3-6 1-6 6-2 6-1 6-0.

In previous matches in this campaign, and most notably against France in the quarter-final, Jamie had been the steady hand on his brother’s shoulder, guiding him through the patterns that create the most efficient coverage of the doubles court.

Goffin and Darcis, meanwhile, had played together in four tournaments, their last outing coming in 2013.

With David Goffin beating Kyle Edmund in the first match, the final is now guaranteed to be decided on Sunday. “It’s been a very special few days, tomorrow’s going to be truly tough again”.

Andy Murray punched the air while his brother exhaled in relief after the brothers won a tense encounter, and made it nine points in a row for the Murray family in this year’s Davis Cup. The man from Belgium kept plugging away and earned a set point at 5-4 up on the Murray serve but was unable to do anything with a forehand return and sent it over the tramlines. “I was surprised he (the umpire) could hear what I said”, Murray said with a smile. It was plain that whichever team gathered that set would take command of the rubber, and therefore of the final.

Andy Murray: “I will prepare like any other match for tomorrow”. But, yeah, I’m not getting ahead of myself.

There were five breaks in six games but the rock-solid presence on court was Andy Murray, who held throughout and served out the third set emphatically. At the fourth deuce, Andy showed that he had no interest in keeping this going.